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ETHYL CORPORATION IN T ER - O FFICE CO R R ESP O N D EN CE AIR MAIL t o Dr. L. p . Saunde rs A D D R E S S Ci n c i n n a t i , Oh io . fr om S . M. Wagner A D D R E S S Lo s An g e le s , C a l i f . SU B JE C T DATE Au gu s t 1 3 , 1943 Attach e d h e re to i s a carbon copy o f a re p o rt I am s e n din g to Harry Ha le y in re gard to th e s i t u a t i o n a t Sto cicto n , Ca li fo r n i a . Yo urs ve ry t r u l y , H E 0021215 AIK' MAIL r . H. W. Sa la y Kew Torte c l ty . u. -ngner' ^os ng a la s t 16, 1943 i\ \\ \1 La s t Frid a y e fte ra o o n B i l l ..t la-v,*irirruio l t s co n ce rn in g a e x ics n who bad bajsn-aisad a s a labo r&c; by c o a s t O i l Cosssoay fo r a tank a t Sto e te to n V/ In c i d e n t a l l y , th e Co n e t Oil/ t^ s p s u y i & a jo b b e r . I m . a tta c h in g , h e re to , Mr, o reppr^ oa the n a tte r . < ' ' ./ Supple m e ntin g S i H H v o p o f t y a h q u ic k ly as p o s s ib le I tals pfco ne d to o u r Um jXod l De partme nt In Cin c i n n a t i t a l k i n g w ith Dr. SsuadSirjtf, who re q u e s te d t h a t we hare th e a tte n d in g ^ h ^ ^ p -lp n to Vfh e Me xican - a l;r . ik>lnbrg te le p h o n e h i a t ^ e .y 'i o llo v d i i g ^ o n i i S^ ^ Dr. Go ld b e rg was? o ut o f town u n t i l Ifo tiday. \\ i )' V B e lie v in g th a t t h i s s itu a tio n should not he l e f t to rid co y lo n g e r than ne Afd e s e ary I aske d l?r. Si o ve rt t o g o t h o ld o fSils?. Ho d in ,y y p r in te n d e n t fo r Co s a t O i l Company, and h s W 'Hlra ta l k d i r e c t w ith Dr. Sstmdor Mr.^ Flo d l^ s n d were a d vis e d by Dr. Saunde rs to d ^ 't t h i n g bu t ke e p track o f th e Me xican and re p o rt If he showed any syn ipe a o f becoming i l l a g a in . // \ \ 'i ' / / Tours ve/ ry tr u ly , 3P i.. 'y*m& .- Ti?sasgfna**evr* C C - a iT . 0 . b . Le w is cc-Br. L. ? . esunders. K 0021216 A u g u s t 1 6 , 194.3 Memorandum on R ep o rt o f I l l n e s s i n Tank C le a n e r On F r i d a y , A u g u s t 13 Mr. called . from Los A ngeles and re p o rte d th a t a Mexican la b o r e r had become i l l a f t e r c le a n in g le a d e d g a s o lin e s to ra g e tan k s and t h a t th e a tte n d in g p h y s ic ia n had made a d ia g n o s is o f ''p r o b a b l e l e a d p o i s o n i n g . " The man was e m p lo y e d b y t h e C oast O il Co. a t S to c k to n , C a l i f o r n i a . Mr. F ran k F lo d in is in charge of the term inal. In d u stria l H istory The man whose i l l n e s s i s r e p o r t e d was one o f f i v e men who c l e a n e d f o u r 7500 b b l . t a n k s . The c l e a n i n g was s t a r t e d S a tu r d a y , A ugust 9 and c o m p le te d A ugust 1 2 . The w ork was o b s e r v e d b y Mr. W. H. S i e v e r t I n i t s e n t i r e t y the f i r s t two days and i n t e r m i t t e n t l y on th e fo llo w in g d ay s. Mr. S i e v e r t s t a t e s t h a t a l l r u l e s and r e g u l a t i o n s were c a r r i e d out c o rre c tly and f a ith f u lly w ith the p o ssib le exception . th a t a f te r presumable thorough cleaning had been accom plished the l a s t procedure o f sweeping up rem aining w ater and sludge, w ith sawdust was done w ith o u t m asks. H isto ry o f A sso ciate Workers One man o u t o f t h e r e m a i n i n g f o u r becam e n a u s e a t e d and vom ited th e f o u r t h (?) day b u t had no known o th e r symptoms and r e c o v e r e d r a p i d l y . No symptoms w ere r e p o r t e d i n t h e o t h e r t h r e e . No d i f f e r e n c e i s known t o h a v e e x i s t e d i n execution of pro ced u re, observance of ru le s or time spent on job i n th e f iv e men. -2- H lstory of Illn e ss I t has not been p o ssib le to determ ine w ith any accuracy or com pleteness th e symptomatology. Dr. Leapold G o ld b e rg , th e a t t e n d i n g p h y s i c i a n , s t a t e d t h a t th e man . appeared to be drunken but t h a t he convinced h im s e lf th a t th e i n t o x i c a t i o n was n o t a lc o h o li c . The m an's forem an s ta te d t h a t t h e r e was m ark ed i n s o m n i a . He d i d n o t b e l i e v e t h e r e was any d i s o r i e n t a t i o n o r m an ia. There were no p a in s o r g a s t r o - e n t e r i c symptoms r e p o r te d . D isposition Mr. wagner was r e q u e s te d t o have D r. G oldberg c a ll In o rd er th a t f u r th e r inform ation and p o ss ib ly samples could be obtained. On S a t u r d a y A u g u s t 1I4. Mr. S i e v e r t c a l l e d , and r e p o r t e d t h a t D r. G oldberg had l e f t town and c o u ld n o t be re a c h e d . By t h i s tim e th e p a t i e n t was f e e l i n g much b e t t e r and e x p e c te d to r e t u r n t o work A u g u st l 6 . Mr. S i e v e r t was advised th a t the p a tie n t should be kept under observation and i f any symptoms re tu rn e d the la b o r a to r y should be Inform ed a t once. I f reco v ery seemed to be complete and no symptoms r e tu r n e d , th e case sh o u ld be dropped. Comment Due to la n g u a g e d i f f i c u l t y th e d o c to r d id n o t know t h a t t h e p a t i e n t h a d c l e a n e d a t a n k . He b e l i e v e d t h a t th e exposure had occurred in f i l l i n g a tank. A blood count is said to have been done and th a t the r e s u lt supported the d i a g n o s i s . The two c o n t a c t s w ith D r. G o ld b e rg were a t th e o f f i c e . The p a t i e n t a p p a r e n t l y re m a in e d a m b u la to ry and . a p p a r e n t l y was n o t a d v is e d to go to bed. The c h arg e f o r th e f i r s t o f f i c e v i s i t was 17.50 an d f o r t h e s e c o n d 8 . 0 0 . H istory of exposure as understood by the doctor would not su p p o rt a d ia g n o sis o f le a d in to x ic a tio n . An a c u te i n t o x i c a t i o n o f t h i s k in d would i n a l l p r o b a b i l i t y show no blo o d changes p a r t i c u l a r l y a t t h e tim e of the observation. Im pression The i l l n e s s was p ro b a b ly due to th e a b s o r p tio n ' o f g a s o lin e o r le a d v a p o rs . The m eager h i s t o r y as o b ta in e d would su p p o rt e i t h e r d ia g n o s is . The a p p a re n t ra p id re c o v e ry would te n d to support a d ia g n o sis of g a so lin e I n to x ic a tio n . L e s t e r W. S a n d e r s , M.D. K E 0 0 21219